Ro was someone Keefe looked up to ever since he met her. She had started volunteering with local teams for her degree in sports medicine on top of doing college wrestling and generally being insanely strong all before graduating. She even looked intimidating, somehow pulling off exercise sweats, two bright pink ponytails, and nails that were sharp enough to make Keefe scared of getting too close to her hands. How could anyone not see her as a grade-A role model? But, what was able to stand above all that, Ro never took bull from Cassius and was a master in keeping Keefe kind of inline. The only problem was that Keefe couldn't sneak anything past her to save his life, so when he got decked in the head after being supremely unfocused, there was no escaping her conquest (not quest, but conquest) for answers.
That day, Ro was supposed to be his ride home, she wasn't fooling anyone with her completely covert side stop at a little cafe. She pushed open the driver-side door and waited for Keefe to follow along, giving him a look of 'are just going to sit there and pass up free food?' After all, who could do an interrogation on an empty stomach?
The shop's doorbell dinged behind them with the person at the counter going through few emotions seeing the duo before resting into a customer service face. Yeah, Cassius might have tried to "treat them" to a snack after an event and threw a hissy fit because his stupid poppy seed muffin wasn't exactly perfect. That tends to be a quick way to gain a reputation, making Keefe decide it'd be better to sit outside today.
"How're you doing?" Ro asked with some of the darkest coffee Keefe had ever seen.
"Pretty good."
"So, we're just going to ignore the fact that you haven't been this way since you watched Book of Mormon and realized that gay people were, in fact, a thing?"
"Now that's a low blow." She took a long sip like she needed the extra energy to get through this conversation before Keefe could defend himself. "I've just got a lot on my mind, okay?"
"But that usually means you're knee-deep in volleyball crap and it's clear that's not the problem. You're not getting out of this."
Keefe slunk down in his chair. "It's not that big a deal. I was a bit off that day, but I'm good now."
"What's going on? Is there something going on with your dad?"
To be fair, there's always something going on with him. "No, things are pretty normal with Cassius. I'm fine, I promise."
"Don't try to pull the 'I'm fine' card on me." Ro rolled her eyes. "I could do something about what's happening if you spilled."
"You'd just make fun of me." Keefe mumbled, realizing his mistake not even seconds after.
Heck. "Please, you've been moping around ever since..." A mischievous glint appeared in his friend's expression. "What happened when we sent you in on that dare last week?"
"Nothing. I used the bathroom like a normal person."
"We both know that's a bald-faced lie. What else happened?" Keefe stayed quiet. "Or I could call Grizel and ask who was performing that night."
The last thing he needed was Ro dragging more people into his misery. "Fine. Someone was performing, but I wouldn't be off my game because of just that." He answered.
Ro smirked, sitting up in her seat and folding her arms on the table like a mafia boss striking a good deal. "Now we're getting somewhere. In that case, how does this mystery dancer connect to a maybe concussed lover-boy?"
"Do you really want to know?" Keefe groaned at the sight of an enthusiastic nod. "The fact this person keeps showing up everywhere!" The floodgates were cracking open and the older person was right that Keefe needed to let this stuff out, but that didn't make it any less embarrassing. "I wanted to go on with my life, but this guy showed up in the middle of one of my classes saying that he's 'coming back to the school' which brings up another round of confusion. To top it off, he saw me and looked absolutely terrified." After that, he started to spill. Keefe had so many questions, but he didn't want to be a creep or get into someone else's business when that person genuinely wanted to be left alone. On the other hand, no matter what Keefe tried, he couldn't keep his mind far from this enigma. God, Ro would never let him live this down.
"Well, that's something."
It surprised Keefe himself that he didn't flip the kitschy table on the spot. "That's it?"
Ro's coffee dropped past the halfway point as she scrutinized the story laid in front of her. "For starters, you do sound very pathetic."
"There it is."
"But, I think I know who you're talking about and I'm not going to tell you about him since you get the honor of acting like a normal person and talking to people that you're curious about all on your own."
Keefe poked at his muffin that he mostly forgot about in his rant. "Thanks for all the help." He deadpanned.
"That doesn't mean I won't help you with your depressing communication skills. You just need to get the ball rolling by yourself." Ro stood up and brushed the crumbs from her spot in a napkin. "Come on, Cass won't be happy if we're late."
"Okay. Just...don't say anything to him about this."
"My lips are sealed."
The ride home was quiet, Keefe fully distracted by his thoughts. Truth be told, it was really nice to get that off of his chest especially since he couldn't breathe a word about this to his other friends without getting laughed out of the room or recommended to the school counselor. Although it left him with a very not-fun question; did Keefe seriously want to get involved? Of course, there were a whole host of questions he wanted answers to, but was it worth stepping into whatever crap this person was dealing with? The logical part of Keefe said that he should leave it alone, but to be fair, that part of him wasn't the strongest.
As to be expected, Cassius wasn't home yet when Keefe walked in. Well, home was a generous term. It was more the place where he slept and dodged his father at all cost which wasn't that hard considering the man rarely stepped away from his work in the first place. Even the entryway felt like Keefe was going in a high-end waiting room instead of his house and the coldness didn't let up until he got to his room. After enough make-shift traps at his door, Keefe was virtually free to decorate however he wanted to there.
Keefe knew that he had leftover homework that should have been his top priority, but he couldn't bring himself to finish it, instead opting to tug out his phone and earbuds along with a sketchbook. Ever since he was little, yelling about thoughts and feelings wasn't exactly an option, meaning that Keefe gravitated to drawing to work through his head. Years of practice made his art not half bad and one would be fascinated at what he could make while being almost completely blanked out. He started off with a light sketch before reaching into a cup of colored pencils within his grasp letting him slowly blend in peaches, tans, and brown to define edges and smooth over curves before moving into detailing a background design. Overlapping, shading, pulling in the tones he had envisioned. Careful not to overdo it, Keefe slowly worked in highlights with white and yellow for the eyes and splaying nature until he felt it was good.
Keefe could pretty much zone out when it came to his art and it wouldn't be until the drawing was practically done that he'd fully zone back in. This time, the finished product was a fairly simple portrait of someone looking into the distance with a calm expression, surrounded by leaves and greenery instead of hair. It was flowy and nonsensical and very in line with Keefe's personal style that he didn't show to anyone else. If anyone asked about Keefe's art, he would probably show them a more generic landscape or pieces he's made based on his friends, but the true lifeblood of Keefe's creativity was whatever whimsical bs he could pull out of nowhere.
A knock from the main door echoed through the house. Keefe groaned; he didn't want to deal with his dad yet, but no way in hell would Keefe let him see all of his personal things laid out for the scrutinizing. With another drawn-out noise, he gathered his pencils, tugged at the cords of his music, and returned his sketchbook to its normal hiding place.
Ever since Keefe was little, he wasn't a very superstitious person. His parents didn't try much with the whole Santa or Easter Bunny thing and wishing for a random miracle was never really his style, but there was no doubt in his mind that some entity was messing with him whenever freckles-mcgee popped into the frame.
"Could I talk to you for a second?"
Keefe had been staring into a random wall for most of choir, but nothing could shake him out of his head like the very person he's been semi-aggressively trying to avoid. Despite very conflicted feelings, he'd decided it'd be best to leave Dex alone until he'd figured out a better idea or until the unlikely chance that the other teen would go up to him first. Although, he hoped he wouldn't have to face those consequences so soon. Some deity had a vendetta against him, he swore.
On top of that, Dex didn't look like he was having the best day to begin with. Not that Keefe was keeping track, but his shoulders and back ducked in slightly as if the weight of his materials was weighing him down while tiredness colored the skin under his eyes. Keefe couldn't decide if some of that came from the stress of this interaction or not.
"Sure." Keefe said, hoping he sounded calm enough.
Dex walked further from the classroom door, waving off the concerned glances of his friends as they left. He let out a sigh like he wanted this to end as soon as possible. "Guess there's no point in beating around the bush. Have you said something to anyone?"
"No." Dex relaxed a little at that. "But, should I say something?"
Even though Ro wouldn't let this slide on her watch, Keefe would feel terrible if this person was being threatened or anything like that and he didn't do anything to help, but Dex shook off the question. "It's nothing like that. I just don't want half the school on my tail."
"That's fair. But, Biana and Sophie got your back?"
"Uh, yeah. Do you know them?"
Keefe assumed he was referring to actually being close to the two of them rather than just knowing of them since someone at this school would have to be living under a rock to not at least hear of the pair. Honestly, it was a little scary how many students were crushing on them. "Well, Fitz couldn't get rid of me if he tried, so I'd say we've crossed paths."
"Oh, I don't see Fitz very often."
"Not a fan of Captain Perfect?" Keefe joked.
"Something like that." It took a second, but Dex made eye contact while he spoke, almost causing Keefe to have a heart attack.
"If you really wanted to stay in the school's good graces, that was your first mistake."
"I don't care that much." Dex responded.
"As his bro, I feel like I should defend his honor or something like that, but now I'm more curious about what beef you have with Fitzy."
The taller of the two laughed with some deviousness once again making Keefe nearly go into cardiac arrest. "Maybe next time. Sophie and Biana probably think I got shoved into a locker, so I should go find them."
"Good plan. I'll see you around?" God, he hoped that he wasn't about to get blown off.
"With my luck, most likely."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Dex had already started down the hall, but Keefe could see him chuckle at the comment. All things considered, that could have gone way worse and now he could get some actual advice from Ro on how to not completely goof this up. The door was at the very least open.
"Whatever happened to bros before hoes?"
At the moment, Keefe was transformed into one of those puffed-up, scared cats as Captain Perfect himself scared the ever-living shit out of him. "Dude, no need to sneak up on me."
"Says the person badmouthing me to get a date."
"That's not what happened. Were you eavesdropping on me?"
Fitz crossed his arms and gave him a look. "Considering I had to get your attention every time we stood up in choir, you can't blame me for wanting to check if you're okay and the first time you've snapped out of it all day was when Dex talked to you."
"I haven't been out of it all day." Keefe mumbled.
"You're right. You've been like this all week. What's going on?"
The blond tried his hardest to not pout at his friend while trying to come off more jokingly. "A thing that happens to be none of your business."
"You can't come at me about getting into other people's business. Remember what happened to anyone that commented on Biana's skin last year?" Fitz reminded, calling Keefe back to when he trapped the lockers of anyone who dared to make fun of Biana's scars and evaded detention in the process.
"They deserved it and you know it and I will not apologize."
"I agree with you completely, but that's not the point. There's a chance I could help you if you told me what happened."
Keefe rolled his eyes. "Well, I thought the O Wise Eavesdropper already heard that the person in question wasn't a fan. You just want an excuse to be closer to Sophie."
"And I thought you were my wingman."
"Not since you betrayed me." Keefe shot back.
Fitz pushed back his short hair and shrugged. "All I have to say is the law of equivalent exchange."
"Sure." Keefe snarked. "Even if I were going to let you in on this one, which I'm not planning on doing, I wouldn't be saying anything in the middle of a hallway when we're wasting lunchtime."
"So, you're saying you'll tell me later."
"Whatever helps us stop drawing weird looks from the orchestra kids." The hall was still pretty packed even as passing time ended and it was true that the artist didn't want to give up what little eating time he had, but above all, he needed more time to think of a way to evade Fitz's questions. He was not about to add 'very unorthodox crush' onto the long list of things his friend could tease him for nor was he going to give anyone else the satisfaction of seeing that their dare ended up like this. Keefe still had some dignity, thanks.
The pair finally got to walking to the cafeteria. "Fine, but you're not getting out of this that easily." Continuing the trend of things Keefe was hoping for, he really hoped that his friend's statement wasn't some weird omen of things to come. Thinking about it, maybe Keefe was more superstitious than he thought.
Hello, my lovely peoples. Finals week is nearly upon me and I really wanted to get this out before then. Also, there are a few June-related events coming up that I thought I should give a little warning to. First of all, happy Pride Month and a shout-out to my fellow rainbows. Second of all, there is a kotlc prompt month going on that I will be participating in on my Tumblr hosted by ALesbianCat if anyone is interested in that, and lastly, about a week in June will be dedicated to creating a mural as tall as I am for my school that will, sadly, take some time from writing. After that information dump, as always a big ol' thanks to for editing and stay safe out there.
-TheLavenderNarwhal
(I almost forgot, a verison of what Keefe drew in this chapter is also up on my Tumblr.)